Chris

After a couple of seasons break from the Aldenham grinder we played them at their picturesque village ground on an ultimately sunny June day, after torrential downpours earlier in the morning.

The format was a timed match and Aldenham batted first and after an opening stand of 66 (Letts 31; Burrows 48), Ivanhoe bowled and fielded well to constrain the score to 185. The exceptional highlights were Phil K’s outfield catch from a stratospheric smash and Adrian’s 6 – 74. In addition there were good spells of support bowling from Ciaran (2 – 53) and Andrew (1-31) plus some fine outfield catches from Richard and Ciaran. Ivanhoe departed the field full of optimism.

If a thunderstorm had have swept in and terminated the Match then it would have been a far far better thing that what followed.

Ivanhoe batted and were out for 63.

Phil K batted well for 36, striking some mighty blows, but everyone else failed. C Munroe got a hat-trick to finish with 5- 15, D. Knight mopped up the tail with 3-13.

Oh Well, a resounding loss but some good beers had at Aldenhams pub after the match.

Can’t seem to buy a win at the moment. Another good batting performance on an unpredictable wicket, built round a fine 64no from Bob, 24 from Den and contributions from Andy H, Phil P, Richard & Matthew, was still not enough to see off Star CC.

Closing on 161 for 6 and then reducing Star to 87 for 7 a first win of the season looked odds on, but an 8th wicket stand took Star within 12 runs of victory (aided by a disputed run out that the umpired failed to give that might well have won the match for the Ives), and they eventually ran out winners by 2 wickets in the 37th over. Mention must be made however of 3 fine catches behind by Bob, one from Ciaran and good bowling performances by Richard (3 for 23), Adrian (4 for 44), Andy H (1 for 22), Den (0 for 23) and Ciaran (0 for 28).

Again despite the defeat another good performance by the Ives. A change of luck however would be welcome.

A change in the weather, hopefully a change in results for Ives who going
into the game were 3 games into the season, with 3 losses. After two games
where good performances had not brought about the right results, AD
returned, and decided Ives would open the batting.
AD (25) and Den (21) opened the batting, and after a solid opening
partnership was ended by a good piece of bowling by the Rivetts seamer,
Bob (10) joined Den at the crease. A further decent partnership ensued
with Ives one down by the drinks break, leaving a 180 score a real
possibility. After drinks however the batting began to collapse, with only
a late flourish meaning Ives posted a 157, well short of what felt like a
good score.
In reply Rivetts got off to a great start, not keen on playing themselves
in, the opening Bat put the pressure back onto Lawrie (3-0-31-0) with 3
consecutive 6’s. Ciaran received a bit of luck (8-0-28-1) getting the
wicket of the opening bat, helped by a great catch by Richard (soon to
become the theme of the day). Wickets continued to collapse, but with such
a great start for Rivetts reducing the target run rate to less than 2.5 an
over, Rivetts were always in charge. Good bowling from Richard and Andrew
combined with some exceptional catching by Richard (4 Catches) made an
Ivanhoe victory a possibility. However by the end it was a lack of runs
which led to another Ivanhoe loss for the season. 4 from 4.
Despite 4 losses there are some positives this season. Ives have regularly
posted over 150 this season, and in general are bowling and fielding
better than previous seasons. Players are working on their weaknesses and
trying to help out and cover the obvious cracks in the team.

Deja Vu

A week on but same place and same result.
This week Ivanhoe were inserted during a time game. GWR’s opening bowlers were swift though a little erratic so the score kept moving. Nevertheless they induced a rare failure from Evans (6), followed by Glen (2), who had enjoyed a promising start. Opener Jaleel AL-DARRAGH, making his Ives debut soon settled in and with Collins put on 49. All Darragh was just in the process of taking apart the leg spinner when he pulled a ball to mid on, departing for a very valuable 44, leaving the feeling that Ives could have done with him batting for another 5-10 overs. With boundaries hard to come by on a pitch (reused from last week) the score moved on at c 4 an over. Useful contributions from Parnell (Malc) (20) and Woodcock (11) with Collins unbeaten on 41 brought up 170 –7 (4 more than last week).

Again the bowlers started very well with useful spells from Hausler, Woodcock, Evans and Parnell’s R and MA. Good catches from Parnell R, Woodcock and Collins gave hope but as always catches are the key and unlike last week the fielding was flawed with a missed stumping and too many chances going begging. With the GWR century maker from last year progressing to an aggressive half century the returning bowlers could not contain the batsmen and in the end GWR won with a couple of overs to spare.

Overall a good match with some promise but we must get the basics right (i.e. catches) if we are to turn near things to positive results.

To end on the positive.. the opposition were a great bunch to play against – absolutely the right spirit – and teas from Joe and Ciaran went down well.. with sandwiches left over .. a rare event.

Man of the Match : Jaleel AL-DARRAGH

An excellent match played in good spirit but unfortunately lost with only 2 balls of the match to go.

On another cold blustery day Ives won the toss and elected to bat with Den and Andy H leading off. Andy went after a quick 9 but Den (30) batted on with Bob, who was to remain unbeaten on 46 at the close as they put on 37 for the 2nd wicket and then Bob and Phil P (21) put on 61 for the 3rd to take the score to 121 for 3 allowing Richard and Ciaran (9) to raise the Ives score to 166 for 5 at the close.

Ives took the field a bowler down after Richard was accidentally hit on the head by a stray throw whilst batting and was unable to field (no lasting damage and will be back next week!) and that was to prove the difference as despite a good start with Andy H taking 3 for 14 in his 8 overs and Ciaran bowling a tight opening spell, and fine catches from Matthew, Den, Ciaran, Phil P(2)and Bob behind the stumps, Uxbridge recovered thanks to 62 from Bader and 28 from Tinsley. Lawrence came back to take 2 for 19 in 7 overs and Den 1 for 25 in 6 with Matthew taking 2 wickets as Uxbridge were 8 down before the winning hit with 2 balls to go.

A typically cold & windy first match welcomed in the new season with Ives taking the field on a remarkably hard wicket bearing in mind the rain of a few weeks ago.

Ashford started well scoring at more than 6 an over for the first 10 overs as Andy H and Ciaran opened the season, but with the introduction of Lawrence and Richard an element of control was established as Richard bowled an excellent spell of 8 overs 2 for 22 and Lawrence 6 overs 1 for 34 and the scoring rate fell away as Ashford were reduced to 88 for 4. As they regrouped there were wicket each for Matthew and Denis and with Andy H coming back to finish the innings and take his first wicket of the season and Ciaran chipping in as well the Ashford innings closed on 186 for 8 after 40 overs. Mention must also be made of fine catches by Joe, and Adrian behind the stumps, and a brilliant run out by Matthew with a direct hit from close to the boundary.

In reply 2 wickets fell quickly for 14 before Richard and Den put on 20 for the third wicket. More wickets then fell regularly and it was left to Ciaran (22) and Earle (8) with a stand of 34 to bring up the 100 and respectability to the score as the innings closed on 119 all out.

A loss but encouraging performances in the field on a cold day and with more to come from the batsmen as the season warms up.

After Hillingdon got off to a quick fire start on a cloudy afternoon it took the intervention of Den (3 for 13 in 5 overs) to bring the scoring rate down and reduce the opposition from 60 for 0 to 79 for 3, aided by catches from Malcolm & Richard. Hillingdon then rebuilt with a century stand before a late wicket from Andy C to a catch by Earle and 2 wickets from Ciaran brought the Hillingdon innings to a close at 200 for 6 at tea.

In reply and in gloomy conditions Ives made a steady start from Andy H (19) and Den (11) before 3 wickets quickly fell. Phil K (21) and Richard (35) restored some order and with Adrian (20) and Earle (31no) making a late charge, Andy C (17no) tried to get the Ives over the line but was left a little too much to do as the innings closed on 188 for 8.

One run out, one catch, one wicket and two runs. Maybe Andy C should play once every 5 months all the time. Still great to have him back in action, puffing away as usual, but at least now on multi coloured ecigarettes and not the dreaded weed. Added to that Andy H came up with another excellent fixture with the tea very much up to the standard the Ives have come to expect and friendly opposition.

As to the match, Little Berkhamsted went off at quick pace, scoring at close to 8 an over initially and it took Andy C to show what we have been missing in the field with a lightning piece of fielding(!) to run out the opener by the length of the pitch and bring the 1st wicket. The introduction of Lawrence and Adrian slowed the scoring and after the other opener had reached his half century Adrian enticed him down the pitch to bowl him for 66, beating him in the flight and finish with 2 for 27 from 8 overs. With Lawrence taking 1 for 49, Richard 1 for 63 and Andy C in his first spell of the season 1 for 19 and catches for Earle and Lawrence as well as Andy C, Little Berko closed on 224 for 6 at tea.

Andy H got the Ives of to an excellent start with a quick fire 24 and after Phil P fell quickly, the innings continued at an average of 5 an over with scores of 38 from Richard, 23 from Phil K, and 27 from Adrian. Unfortunately no one went on to the big score that might have carried the game home and Ives eventually succumbed, 159 all out but an enjoyable match nonetheless and one o hopefully retain next season.

With one or two players feeling a little lethargic following Den’s surprise 65th birthday party the night before and one, who shall remain nameless (Joe), not even making it to the match, Ive’s batted first against Nazeing and after the early departure of Bob, Den and Raj set about giving the Ives a start with a 2nd wicket stand of 53 before Raj fell for 34. 80 was on the board after the first hours play as Phil P joined Den and kept the score moving with 22 before a lull as 3 wickets fell and the score quickly became 131 for 6 with 40 minutes still left to bat. Den outscored his age by 1 before departing for a fine 66 as Andy H with a quick fire 43 made sure the 200 came up with Ives declaring at 202 for 9 at tea.

In reply the Nazeing openers proved difficult to remove and put on 49 in good time before Lawrence stepped in to take the first wicket and it was then Adrian aided by catches from Richard, Phil P (2) and Ciaran who turned the match Ives way with 5 for 38 in 11 overs to reduce Nazeing to 129 for 7. Richard then removed the stubborn Nazing no. 8 with his first ball for 23 again caught by Phil P, but victory proved elusive as Nazeing held on, closing on 139 for 8 and a draw.

A 12.30 start today, 40 over game on a not prepared greenish wicket. With the toss won Mayfield are put in to Bat.
What a nice change this week all bowlers, bowled in the right areas which makes life so much easier for setting a field .
The tone was set with a fine catch by Jonathan as wicket keeper, one to watch. Fine spells from Ciaran and Andy H opening, both taking wickets, backed up by Den with 5 for 9 from 7 overs, Earle and AD with 2 late wickets.
Earle picked up a good catch in the deep and Den one handed off his own bowling like picking apples from a tree.
Mayfield all out for 80 .
With the threat of heavy rain, opening as the last two weeks Den and Richard. A couple of blows for four set the innings on its way, with the wicket of Richard brings AD to the middle. Runs are chipped away, waiting for the bad balls to score. Den departs for steady 25, and with the wicket of Matt, Andy H to the Middle. With some fine blows from Andy not out 17 and AD not out 31 see Ives home with 19 overs left .

A WIN. Man of Match Den